Morris tribune., 1887-10-05
THE RAILROAD MIND.
GROWING DEMAND FOR A NEW
KIND OF MENTAL APTITUDE.
Ouickness to Act and Patience to Mas
ter Detail-Origin of Railway Slaugh-
ters-A Farmer Boys Fatal Mistake
Good Management.

Ouickness to Act and q Patience to Mas
ter Detail-orisin of Railway slaugh-
ters-A Farmer Boys Fatal Mistake
Good Management.
The railway when it came into the
human world brought demand for a
new kind of mental force or aptitude.
The railway man from the president to
the brakeman must possess a quickness
to perceive, quickness to act and
patience to master detail; an omission of
task may cost great sums or may de-
stroY life. When superintendent passes
over his road in a private car and ex-
amines the track and bridges while he is
moving at the rate of thirty miles an
hour, he is not necessarily a criminal, he
may be only an intellectual imbecile. He
should be removed from railway service
and be commended to the task Of super
vision of an OK or pack horse service. One
day some men were moving weeds, nail
ing up loose boards and whitewashing at
o railway station, and confessed the mo-
tive of such industry was to be found in
the fact that the superintendent was to
pass along next day. These men all knew
the kind of lightning inspection that
would be made by their chef.
In the history of national banks one
can read the shallow import Of the word
inspection" but there the mental weak
ness Of an inspector costs the country
money and not life. For bank to fail in
few days after having been pronounced
unusually sound Is an event not wholly
unknown; but tho depositors are not
killed nor mangled. It is in railroad
work mental weakness assumes its most
dangerous shape. A facile, lax, easy
going mind may in the railway profession
become as fatal as q can of dynamite or
an earthquake.
A NEW FORM OF MIND.
Many railway slaughters have resulted
from the slowness of educational pro-
cesses. The new iron road has created q
demand for a new form Of mind, but it
cannot at once supply the demand. Mr..
Galloway, one of the most conscientious
and ideal railway men on the continent,
said once that each passenger train which
runs from Chicago to New York must pass
through the bands of 500men who aSS wIue
awake to each duty. When one p6hSeggS
upon this statement, and remembers how
difficult it Is to find 500 capable men in q
single row, the wonder comes that train
| ever passes over 600 mile path without
being wrecked or injured.
Why should the public, which cannot
| inspect bank or q milk can, rail at the
men who come only tolerably near in
| speeding railway? The railway is help
| ing to mako q better kind Of brain, but
brain is Of slow growth. A colored man
was recently asked at what time the cars
passed his cabin, and his reply was that
| they went north In the morning and south
in the afternoon. To lead such man ur
to @ conception of such divisions of time
as 200 or $40 or 5:15, would be an educa-
tional task Of no little weight. To give
such o mortal place upon q railway
would be criminal, for If he did not kill
others he would soon kill himself.
Only last week one Of these boys Of the
farm, allured by false vanity to seek rail-
way work, met his death because of men
tai laxness. He was made switchman al
a village station. The sole of one shoe
became unsewed Thus was he made Ii
able to be thrown down. He took the
risk from day to day. At last, as he sci
o switch and stepped quickly, his shoe
sole caught on spike head and death
came quickly. His method with his shoes
on tie tie farm failed as method for the
NEW surroundings.
1 9uACh hA16EsQAE MEN.
The educationh power Of the railway 4
kept back By the pitiable truth tina
/ many of its officials are not students of 1
greu5art, but are only spectators in lant
or stocks, when not absolute thieves
Quack railroad men are more numerou
than quack doctors. Good men are dis
charged to make room for favorites, ant
thus fortunes and life are placed at tn
mercy Of unframed minds. In the arm,
colonel was displaced that some cousin
of the generals might have the position
When the new colonel rode out to exerois
the boys at arms he told them ito do a
they had done yesterday
The railway service Is no doubt suffer
ing much from the presence Of official
who know more about money and luxur,
j than they know about bridges and road
beds. Under the rule of these captain
the receipts from all traffic fow TOWARD
New York, and soon the bank account il
large and the road worn out and danger
Gus. The income IL the main thing, tn,
art nothing
i Some roads are managed by railway art
The president himself could run locomo
tive or construct bridge or keep awake
at switch. These roads are under thu
control Of the railway intellect, and not O
the champagne and private car genius
May the time soon come when so tremen
dous thing as the railway shall be man
aged by the new kind Of intellectual fore,
called railway brain.-David Swing il
Chicago Journal.